Enslaved - RIITTIIR (2012)

What can be said about this band that has already been able to withstand the test of time as they've been in the black metal scene for so long? As I've written before, Axioma Ethica Odini, the 11th studio album, released in 2010, was a difference from what they have done before, with the risk of being labeled 'not true black metal', but now the Norwegians have proven yet again that they are here and are still here to stay.

RIITTIIR is somewhat more melodic than Axioma Ethica Odini was, but this does not make the album less fantastic. Enslaved released their newest studio album called RIITTIIR in September 2012.

Enslaved originally produced very dark and raw black metal, but the past few years the band has started walking down the path of the more progressive side. The more progressive path has brought forth the albums   Isa, Ruun and Vertebrae, before releasing Axioma Ethica Odini, and also the EP's The Sleeping Gods and Thorn have proven that black metal can blend into the more progressive styles with added ambient-like parts and still sound awesome. This new album is clearly yet another step forward in this same direction.

It yet again combines the awesome deep grunts of Grutle Kjellson with the clean and awesome sound of Herbrand Larsen, to give the listener another awesome experience.

The name RIITTIIR is not just something random, it is a re-shaped version of the word 'Ritual' or 'Rite', as they explain in an interview I found on Darkview.be:

What does ‘Riitiir’, the name of your new album stand for?
Ivar: It is a re-shaped version of the word “Ritual” or “Rite”. It was a natural step for us to deal with the rituals of man at the point we had reached conceptually with our albums – we have dealt with the runes as a mystical language, we have dealt with specific runes and their associated powers, we have dealt with flesh/mind-borders, we have dealt with the philosophy of ethics, and the psychology of moral. The next dark house along the path was the Rituals that we humans utilize to see change through. We wanted to re-shape the word itself in order to make the concept truly universal – it is neither Norwegian, English or anything else – but still it contains the core of the word so that people know what it is about.   


An impression of what the new album sounds like can be found here, with the music video of Thoughts Like Hammers.

                 

Aside of all this wonderful news I've found that Enslaved will be coming to The Netherlands again, on tour for this newest album. They will be in Amstelveen on March 24th, and I'll surely be there to cheer them on :)


Should you be interested to buy this album, you can do so at for example Nuclearblast.de or Large.nl, or any local record store that sells black metal/progressive metal.

My black metal moods... Enslaved

Before introducing you to this band - which is one of my black metal favorites - let me quickly tell you that I've only been familiarized with the black metal genre for 8 months now and therefore I am still discovering things with each passing day...

Within black metal there's a lot of diversity in styles. For instance...

Take a black metal/progressive metal band, which has come into existence 20 years ago, with an excellent live performance, continuously changing styles, evolving and experimenting with each new release. This is Enslaved for ya.

I got acquainted with Enslaved through the 2010 album Axioma Ethica Odini which really blew my mind. I loved all the tracks of this album right away. Now black metal fans will tell you that this Enslaved album is not 'true' black metal, but it doesn't sound less spectacular because of that. On the contrary.

I then set my sights on finding the other albums, and listened to them. Out of the older tracks a few stand out and are just simply unforgettable. And I don't mean that song. Among those unforgettable Enslaved tracks are Wotan, As Fire Swept Clean The Earth, Slaget I Skogen Brotenfor, Path To Vanir, The Watcher, which are my favorites. There are some albums and EP's that I haven't heard yet, which I am still curious about.

I've seen this band live in April and they truly rocked. The setlist was mostly of the Axioma Ethica Odini album, with some older work, and it just sounded amazing.

As I am telling you about this great, diverse band I am checking out the newest Enslaved EP called The Sleeping Gods which could be downloaded for free through the website of Scion A/V. The Enslaved style has yet again undergone changes and it sounds very different in some parts, in other parts there's recognizable sounds.

The conclusion: Enslaved might be different than the 'true' black metal, the band's been around for 20 years which stands for quite a lot. Their newest EP rocks (even though it takes some getting used to). Enslaved truly rocks !